Do You Have Wood Allergies?by Matthew Pioro |
Credit: Mussels/Flickr
Are you allergic to certain species of wood? If you are, I’d like to hear about it. You see, CHW is working on an article on wood allergies, and we’d like to include your experiences.
- How do you react to certain species?
- How did you discover your allergy?
- How do you cope with it in the shop?
Please post your comments to his blog entry.
allergies…one great one, and that’s all i need..for 30 years, i have primarily worked with all types of wood without problems…. however since moving to eastern quebec in 2007, i’ve worked with cedar because of the price and availability.. there are tmes that i have to stop working with it and go back the following day…my eyes burn, i constantly sneeze and on three occasions i had to go to the walk in clinic unable to breathe. none of the allergy meds work at all. now i use an expensive respirator type mask, and even that does not stop the dust completely
I used to build cedar strip canoes for fun, certainly not for profit. I used to be suspicious that I was perhaps allergic to cedar as I would sneeze and cough after sanding, even with a respirator. Last year I was building a cradle for my first grandchild. Having found a beautiful piece of Brazillian rosewood I decided to make some “feather” inlays on the ends of the bed. The intricate cutting and sanding required made a lot of dust and everywhere that I was not covered I broke out in a serious enough rash that my G.P. sent me to a specialist. Even places where I touched myself after getting out of my sanding gear left a rash (You can imagine where some of those places were). I had to stop work for two weeks. My grandson didn’t get his cradle until he was 1 month old.
I have worked with timber for over 20 years with no problems until I worked with some Yew.
I had a massive allergic reaction finding it difficult to breath, congestion and a rash you would not believe I needed medical treatment . It would seem that over the years I had become sensitised to wood dust. Even small amounts causes sneezing fits and shortness of breath. I now only use hand tools and have not had any problems since
I found out at an early age that I was allergic to Cedar Sawdust. Coming home from school one day after my father had built the front deck there was loads of fine dust in the air. I couldn’t breath properly, my nose itched and my eyes were very watery. Since then any very fine sawdust does the same thing to me.
My son Jeremie has been working with wood for over 10 years. This year he started to break out in large boils all over his body. He went for allergie tests and the conclusion was that he is allergic to all woods. They will put him on allergy medicine but I do not know which one yet. For the moment he just deals with it and keeps on working.
I was around woodworking most of my childhood my father being a wood shop teacher and having a shop at home as well, I was always in the shop sanding with him and there was always plenty of saw dust and finer dust from sanding in the air. None of us had any problems at all. As an adult I have not worked with wood for many years until recently working with some Douglas Fir building a loft bed (lots of sanding), both my husband and I noticed dry itchy throats and sinuses, as well stuffy noses and very itchy watery eyes, nothing like a cold though. I’m pretty sure it was all the dust from sanding, I thought this was worth mentioning since it’s never happend to us before.
I have been working with wood and the various materials used in residential and commercial construction since 2000. Now a finishing carpenter I am around the various stages of milling wood. Recently I have been working with cedar using various mechanically assisted carving tools to carve cedar posts. By the end of the day I am covered head to toe in dust. I use my asbestos lead fine dust particle respirator and my other personnel protective equipment. But I can feel something about the cedar choking me right through my p.p.e. Leaving me with burning eyes, sneezing, coughing and small red dots on my shoulders. No other dust has reacted with me like this.
I have worked as a carpenter for over 10 years now and I have just recently become allergic to cedar sawdust. I feel terrible for about a half an hour. After that I am able to go back to work but still feel crappy for the rest of the day. I have found it’s a little harder to be efficient nowadays when my allergy kicks in. Weird how I have never had a problem until recently.
I have been working with wood all my life , I have started to build a boat in the garage, last night my eyelids were itchy and face a little red. I woke this morning and could only just see out of right eye and the left wasn,t much better.
My wife had to take a second look as to who she woke up next to.
I have been ripping long lengths of Kauri timber with a circular saw,I even have a v-neck pattern on my neck from the shirt outline.I am off to get some Telfast ,I have read that this can help.
I just recently bought some rosewood to make a marimba with. To tune the bars you have to sand out the middle of the bars resulting in tons of sawdust. About a day or so after all the sanding, i broke out in a fiery red rash/bumps on my belly button. Only my belly button! I was so confused. Then my face started itching, I was very sore and I just felt bad. I think I may have had an allergic reaction. The doctor didn’t confirm this though. Now I see the rash in my armpits a little bit. My question is: WIll I always be allergic to sawdust now? Have I become sensitized to it for the rest of my life?
Philip, those are some good questions. They are, however, best answered by a doctor, not a woodworker.
I have been building and working with with wood all my life and have had a home wood working shop for the last 20 yrs. The first time I had any kind of severe reaction to dust was about 5yrs ago, when I built a set of speakers stands out of mdf. I had flu like symptoms for about 1-2 days. Ever since then I seem to have a low tolerance to all types of dust. Both in and out of the shop. Reaction ranges from sneezing to watery eyes to sore throat to fever. Usually does not last langer than a day or so. I have now equipped my shop with dust collectors and air cleaner as well as dust masks. I have to confess that I do not use them all religiously but I am getting better at it. I expect, I am now stuck with it for life.